Stop Feeding The Birds?

Stop feeding birds, Audubon says as fatal eye disorder nears Upstate NY

 

We have that here. DNR said to pull all feeders a few weeks ago.

 

Interesting that they would include robin's.

We have plenty of them, but never see them at the feeder.

Don't have a bird bath, maybe that's where they'd get exposed.

Mainly chickadees, grosbeaks, gold finches, and cardinals at our feeder.

Mourning doves are usually cleaning up what the others toss on the ground.

I heavily dissuade the Blue Jays when I can.



The Jay's will empty that thing in "a New York minute"

 

We stopped feeding the birds when the bear kept coming around years back.

 

We've got a bear that won the war on the self standing feeder in the yard, bent it over 3 or 4 times. I said enough is enough.


We have a hanging feeder that it's vandalized a few times. Last time I found it around 50 ft on the other side of the road.

Holly had it tree'd once.. that kinda freaked me out some.

It also took the garbage can off the front porch up to the driveway while we were at a GTG.. guess it's watching our "social media".


Maybe we should name it Google-bear.

 

Did the bears hit the feeder in, oh say October or November?? Or just spring/summer?

 

We stopped a filling week ago. We miss the activity. Mass Audubon suggested bird baths too. Last I read it was still in mid-Atlantic and had not passed NJ.

 

I have also stopped , we enjoyed watching them as well but taking a break from feeding for now.

 

Wifey quit putting out feed a few weeks ago...If it was up to me the feeders would most likely still be out.

 

More info here
AlertDetails

 

Caution urged here

July 14 Update on the Unknown Bird Disease

 

DNR said the same thing here a few weeks ago. Seems to be quite the uproar.

 

I read an article that may link it to the 17 year locust hatch....pesticides? I clean ours weekly and continue to feed.

 

I wonder when they're going to tell us the source of this illness came from somewhere in southeast Asia?

 

When it first happened here, it was May 30, 2008, this year when the bear showed up it was in July.

 

We stopped feeding the birds in the Summer a few years ago anyway.
Too many seasonal big birds that just pig out and there's plenty of their usual seed and bugs for them to eat this time of year any way.
I never fed the birds to feed the birds, it was to see what was out there, or what would come to the feeder in the Winter when food supplies are <less>.
It was nice to see what birds were around in Summer too but I'm not feeding bazillions of red-winged blackbirds, grackles and whatnot.
Bird baths/water supplies will be empty end of the week and will decide on filling them when back from vacation in August.
I kinda like a water source hoping it keeps birds and squirrels out of the garden.

 

First time Ive heard of this. How comes stuff never effects crap we dont want, like gypsy moths and lantern flys?

 

See Eric Schamell post…

I wonder when they're going to tell us the source of this illness came from somewhere in southeast Asia?

 

It’s not really fair of me to automatically assume it came from “over there”. I was only basing it on the record from the past thousand or so years. Bubonic plague, several flu strains, chestnut blight, ash borers, ______ moths, lantern flies, hemlock woolly Adelgid, Asian long horned beetle, hydrilla, kudzu....